


limbic investigation

by peachytickles



Category: The Good Place (TV)
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:34:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26836021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachytickles/pseuds/peachytickles
Summary: Eleanor accidentally sends a message to Simone that piques her scientific interests. She decides it’s only right to test her hypothesis. Spoilers for series 3 of The Good Place.
Relationships: Simone Garnett/Eleanor Shellstrop
Kudos: 9





	limbic investigation

Simone squinted at her macbook, watching as the holographic picture of Eleanor’s brain on the screen fluttered and pulsed. She hit a few experimental keys, then leaned forward into the mic.

“Okay, Eleanor? We’re going to start in a second. There’s a button by your right hand, you can hit that if you start feeling restless, or if you want to take a break. Just - try not to move too much, alright?”

There was an answering crackle from inside the MRI. Simone instinctively looked over to the corresponding monitor, which offered a birds’ eye view of the inside of the machine. It showed her that Eleanor had propped herself up on her elbows, and was looking around curiously.

“You don’t need to look for it. Just put your hand out and you’ll feel it - no, your other hand, it’s on the right.”

“This thing?” Eleanor’s voice sounded tinny and foreign over the speaker.

“Yeah, that’s it - don’t press it! - now just lie back with your hands by your sides.” She waited for Eleanor to obey before she continued. “I’m going to show you a slideshow of random images. You might notice one or two that remind you of–”

“–Your near-death experience, yada yada yada. _I know._ You said all this yesterday,” Eleanor interrupted.

“To Chidi, Jason and Tahani. We ran out of time before you could take your turn, so I’m just reiterating-”

“I _know_ , but it’s boring-” Eleanor whined. “Can we just start already?”

Simone tried not to roll her eyes as she flipped a switch. “Yes, fine, we’re starting now.”

As the little projector in the MRI whirred to life, she disconnected the accompanying camera and pulled up the slideshow. It meant that she no longer had a direct view of Eleanor’s face, which worried her slightly, but she needed to be able to see which images triggered the most activity.

She pressed play on the slideshow and then turned her attention back to the holographic brain on the adjacent screen. There wasn’t much happening yet, which was to be expected: the interior of MRI machines were visually understimulating, and the pictures she’d chosen for the slideshow were equally boring.

It was this part that Simone liked best - getting to see what parts of the brain became more active when it was bored and unstimulated. It differed from person to person and she liked to make a game of it; guessing where their mind wandered based on which areas lit up.

In Eleanor’s case, the prefrontal cortex was lighting up the most, which suggested that she was taking the time to think about each image as it appeared. _‘I wonder what her thought processes. ….But do I_ want _to know?_ ’ Simone thought, her mind drifting back to the absurd things Eleanor often said in class. _Well, it might be funny. But then again it might just be plain weird, like the Sam the Eagle thing- ew, no. Never mind, focus._

At that moment, she spotted a change in the brain activity. The hippocampus had lit up, indicating the recollection of memories, immediately followed by the lighting up of the amygdala, which suggested a surge of emotion.

_Awesome, just what we’re looking for…_

She took a screengrab of the hologram, then turned to the slideshow, eager to see which image had elicited such a strong response.

_Wait, what?_

She was staring at a picture of feathers.

—

“That took so long!” Eleanor complained, as Simone peeled the last electrode from her scalp, and helped her down from the MRI. She dragged herself over to the couch and flopped onto it melodramatically. “My shoulders are stiff.”

Simone disappeared into the side-room to retrieve her laptop. “It was only twenty minutes! You’re just restless.”

“Twenty minutes is a long time to be away from the group chat!” Eleanor shouted back.

When she returned, Eleanor, true to her word, had dug her phone out of her purse and was texting rapidly. Simone flopped down at the other end of the sofa. 

“Well, you can catch up now.”

“We’re not leaving?”

“Nah.” Simone nodded at the window. “It’s too hot to walk anywhere. We should give it an hour at least.”

Eleanor shrugged and turned her attention back to her phone. “Fine by me.”

Privately, Simone agreed. She opened up her laptop, and began filling Eleanor’s MRI results into the report. She’d barely written two sentences, though, when there was a pinging sound, and an iMessage notification appeared on her screen.

_eleanor:_ hiiiiiii

Simone smiled, but ignored it. She wanted to get as much work done as possible - though maybe that wasn’t going to be possible, because not ten seconds later there was another ping.

_eleanor:_ hey don’t blank my texts!

She sighed. “I thought you were checking the group chat?”

“I did!”

“And?”

Eleanor scowled darkly. “There’s nothing there.”

“So you decided to message me instead?” Simone asked.

“Yeah.”

“Even though I’m sitting right next to you?”

Eleanor shrugged. “Yeah?”

_“Why?”_

“Because I’m boooreeed!”

Simone turned back to her laptop. “Well, I can’t help you with that.”

“Ugh!” Eleanor groaned, tossing her head back. She stretched her legs out, nudging Simone’s leg with her toes, but it was no use. She was steadfastly ignoring her.

Then there was a third ping.

Simone looked over. Eleanor was giggling at her phone.

“Eleanor, don’t think I won’t throw your phone out the window..”

“…What?”

“You just texted me again!”

“I didn’t!”

“Why is my laptop pinging then?”

“It’s not, it was my phone.” She showed her the screen. “Tahani replied!”

“Oh.” Simone looked down at her laptop screen. There was no iMessage notification there. Okay, well, easy mistake to make. She shrugged it off and started to type again, but….suddenly being productive didn’t seem so appealing anymore.

On a whim, she clicked into iMessage.

It opened onto her text thread with Eleanor.

Not even trusting herself to look over, she flexed her fingers and started to type.

–

_Tahani:_ I know, it’s appalling! But that’s enough about me. How’s your morning with Simone so far? Have you gotten over your fear of the electrodes yet?

_Tahani:_ They are nothing like snakes, I promise.

Eleanor smiled to herself, and started to type out a reply.

_Nescafe coffee isn’t that bad, babe. you should try it, you might surprise yourself!_

She hit send and started considering the next part of the message - how best to convince Tahani that what she had dubbed an “irrational” electrodes phobia was actually perfectly rational and understandable?

She didn’t have long to think though, as her phone pinged with the arrival of another text.

_Simone:_ Sushi for lunch?

There was a series of small sushi emojis instead of the actual _word_ , and Eleanor smirked.

_Someones changed their tune. Don’t think i won’t throw your laptop out the window!!_

At the sound of Simone’s laptop pinging, her smirk turned into a grin, and she started typing out the second half of her reply to Tahani.

_Can’t complain about the company, but the mri machine is awful. And the electrodes are the stuff of nightmares! Why didn’t you tell me how badly they tickle?!_

She hit send and then locked her phone happily, feeling every bit the cat that got the cream - especially when she heard Simone snort in amusement. She closed her eyes and laid back, listening to the sound of Simone’s fingers racing across the keyboard. Her phone pinged and she opened her eyes, half-wondering if she should put it on silent - but all thoughts dissipated as she realised what the text read.

_Simone:_ You’re ticklish?

Oh. Oh no. She scrolled back a little, and- yep. The text about electrodes had sent to Simone instead of Tahani. She swallowed, and then swallowed again when she heard Simone put her laptop aside.

“So, are you?”

Eleanor peeked up at her.

“Ehm. No?”

“Seriously?” Simone asked sceptically. “You’re telling me that the very faint pulse of electrodes is enough to bother you, but you’re not ticklish?”

Eleanor pondered this for a moment and then nodded. “Yes. I was exaggerating.”

Simone scrunched her nose. “Okay. Well, your MRI results suggest otherwise.”

Eleanor’s hands spasmed and she dropped her phone. It clattered to the floor. “Uhm, what?”

“Well, while you were watching the slideshow I was scanning your brain for increased activity in the amygdala and hippocampus, which - as you know - suggests strong memories are associated with the trigger.” She paused at the blank expression on Eleanor’s face. “The trigger being the image.”

“Okay. Cool, except I didn’t actually know that.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Simone smacked herself in the forehead. “You were too impatient to let me finish explaining it to you.”

Eleanor narrowed her eyes. “I still don’t see what this has to with- with being-”

“Ticklish? Don’t worry. I’m getting there.” Simone smiled in a way that Eleanor honestly found more unnerving than reassuring. “What we do know is that you’ve got a very strong flight-or-fight response - your amygdala flooded with adrenaline every time you saw the triggers.”

“So - the shopping carts? And the bottle of margarita mix?”

“Yep, see, you’re getting it now. The thing is though…I also happened to notice a lot of activity in the amygdala whenever one of the stock photos would come up. Like, a lot.”

“That’s called anon- anomalous data, right?”

Simone’s face lit up. “That’s right! Except - no. Not in this case. We call it anomalous data when an unexpected result happens at random - and this was unexpected, granted - but your amygdala and hippocampus were only lighting up for one of the stock photos, and that’s not really random.”

“Ohh.” Eleanor considered this. “Wait, is that why you kept replaying the slideshow?!”

Simone laughed. “Maybe.”

“So I _was_ right when I said it took forever!”

“Hmm.” Simone shrugged. “Maybe I spent a little longer on you than I did on the others.”

“Ha! I knew it!” Eleanor sat up and laughed jubilantly. “You were whipped by my amazing sexy brain!”

Simone snorted. “Yeah, alright. I think anyone would be intrigued after seeing their friend have a _panic response_ at a stock photo of _craft feathers_.”

A blush started to rise on Eleanor’s cheeks. “That was the picture?”

Simone grinned deviously. “Yup. All the evidence points to ticklish.”

Well, that was flustering. Red-faced, Eleanor scrambled for a retort. “Yeah, well. Just the evidence! You don’t have any proof.”

Simone paused, and Eleanor quickly realised her mistake. Her terrible, terrible mistake.

“Okay, no I didn’t mean that- Simone, no!” Her voice tapered into a high-pitch squeal as Simone suddenly launched herself forwards. Eleanor screamed and fell back against the cushions, her hands coming up defensively. “I will kill you,” she warned, tensing up as Simone straddled her thighs, but she only laughed.

“You know, a common misconception about science is that a hypothesis needs proof to be accepted. It doesn’t. We’re actually more interested in exploring the questions that come _after_ a hypothesis is accepted.”

Eleanor frowned, but didn’t lower her hands. “I don’t get it.”

“Well, if we accept the hypothesis that you’re ticklish - which we do - surely the next question is where are you most ticklish?”

“What- no, no no no, we really don’t need to-” Eleanor started, but she was already beginning to giggle in anticipation. Her hands fluttered anxiously in the air, ready to grab, to push, to swat - so she could at least _try_ to defend herself.

“Oh, I think we do,” Simone interrupted, and that was all the warning she got before fingers were poking into her ribs. Eleanor inhaled sharply and then burst into louder, more desperate giggles, desperately trying to squirm away from the touch. “Wow, this is a good spot!” Simone teased, and Eleanor blushed furiously. 

“It’s nohot!” She whined, grabbing hold of Simone’s wrists. Simone stilled her fingers.

“So you’re saying there’s better spots?”

“No!” She shrieked, but it was no use. Simone pulled her hands free and started squeezing her sides, laughing in delight as Eleanor threw her head back and screamed.

“I see what you mean. This is much better.”

Eleanor shook her head emphatically, forehead puckering as she tried to scowl - but the effect was ruined by how hard she was laughing. “It’s nahaht! It’s wohohorse!”

“Pfft, potato, po-tah-toh,” Simone scoffed. “Point is, your sides are way more ticklish than your ribs. Hmmn.” She pretended to think for a second. “Where else should we try?”

“Nowhere! Nowhere else! Plehehehase, those are the only two!” Eleanor begged, batting weakly at Simone’s arms. Internally she cursed herself - why did laughing have to make her go all floppy and weak?!

Simone, it seemed, had noticed. She snorted at Eleanor’s attempts to defend herself, and delivered the killing blow. “Are you trying to stop me? Cause I’m telling you now, dinosaur arms aren’t very effective.”

“Shuhut uhuhup! I cahahan’t,” Eleanor wailed.

“Yeah, that much is obvious. Hmm, maybe I should rate your self-defence tactics alongside your tickle spots.”

Eleanor shrieked again, batting faster, and Simone giggled at her. “Remind me to never ask you for help with karate.”

“I hahahate you!”

“That’s not very nice. Also, probably not the wisest thing to say when you’re losing in a fight.” Simone teased. The thrill of having Eleanor pinned and feverishly giggling beneath her had completely gone to her head.

Which was probably why she completely failed to predict what happened next.

Because in some feat of indignant strength, Eleanor managed to push herself up and surge forwards.

Simone panicked, expecting revenge, and tried to quell the blonde’s retaliation by digging her fingers in harder. It worked - to an extent - the giggling didn’t stop, and she continued to shiver - but it certainly didn’t deter Eleanor from taking Simone’s face in her hands, and kissing her soundly.

It was like the world stopped. Simone melted into the kiss, breath catching in her throat as Eleanor’s thumbs stroked reverently across her cheekbones. She murmured and tried to pull her in closer, hands sliding around her back and clutching at her shirt. Eleanor laughed then and Simone could feel her smiling. Maybe she was still a little buzzed, a little giddy - maybe they both were, because the soft, muffled sound of it was intoxicating, and Simone half-considered dragging her nails along her stomach in the hopes of hearing it again.

But it seemed like Eleanor was firmly in tune with her thoughts because she pulled back with a huge, self-satisfied grin.

“How’s that for a self-defence tactic?”

Simone tilted her head and bit her lip against a smile. “I’m not sure.”

“Not _sure?”_

“It _might_ be one of my favourites. I don’t know, though. I _think_ I need you to do it again so I can decide…”

“Oh, that’s very convincing.” Eleanor sighed, running her palms along Simone’s arms. She smiled to herself, fingering the silky ruffles on her sleeves. “But-” and now she looked up, eyes glinting with mischief - “not convincing enough.”

And she surged forwards once more, hands scrabbling as the room filled up with peals of betrayed laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!  
> leave a kudo, and comments always make me write faster!  
> find me on tumblr @peachytickles


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